Kyiv says remarks by some foreign officials are interference in Ukraine's internal affairs

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara has said that remarks made by a number of officials of foreign countries are interference in the internal affairs of the country and urged them to be objective and balanced in their assessments.

"Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kozhara expressed the concern of the Ukrainian side due to the remarks made by officials of certain foreign states and international organizations on the work of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, which Kyiv sees as interference in the internal affairs of our country," the Foreign Ministry's press service quoted him as saying at a meeting with U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt and Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine Jan Tombinski.

The issue concerns the increased interest of international partners in internal events in Ukraine in the context of the adoption of several laws on January 16, he said.

Kozhara urged foreign diplomats to be as objective and balanced as possible in their assessments of internal processes in Ukraine, as well as to avoid making unilateral statements and remarks that do not reflect the real state of affairs.

He also noted that the laws adopted by the Verkhovna Rada on January 16 were aimed at the implementation in the Ukrainian legislation of a number of provisions that already exist in the laws of most European countries and meet generally accepted democratic standards and international practices.

Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Chairman Ihor Kaletnik, who also attended the meeting, in turn, informed the ambassadors about the content of the laws adopted on January 16 and also explained in detail the procedure for the adoption of laws, noting that the vote on that day was held in accordance with applicable law, in particular, Article 37 of the law on the rules of procedure of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.